


Marvelous Clans

by Linz2



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, Warriors - Erin Hunter
Genre: AU, Forest Territories, Gen, marvel warrior cats crossover, marvel warriors crossover, pre mapleshade's vengeance, pre prophecies begin arc, since nothing is preventing it from taking place in warriors canon, updates may be slow
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-09-21
Updated: 2018-10-13
Packaged: 2019-07-14 23:44:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 10
Words: 14,957
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16051028
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Linz2/pseuds/Linz2
Summary: Danger is approaching the Clans, danger that normal cats can't stop. The Clans will need incredible cats, amazing cats… marvelous cats.





	1. Allegiances

ShadowClan:

Leader: Silverstar/Tony: Brown tabby with white belly, blue eyes.

Deputy: Sharpheart/Rhodey: solid gray, amber eyes.

Medicine Cat: Emberstone/Stephen: tuxedo cat, green eyes.

Warriors:

Firepoppy/Pepper: Ginger fur, brown eyes.

Shadespark/Natasha: Solid black, reddish-amber eyes.

Happy: Former Kittypet, Havana Brown with amber eyes.

Leafbreeze/May: calico, green eyes.

Apprentices:

Spiderpaw/Peter: tortoiseshell, green eyes. Mentored by Silverstar.

Kits:

Vinekit/Harley Keener: orange with white belly. Silverstar and Firepoppy's only kit to survive a bought of greencough.

ThunderClan:

Leader: Stormstar/Thor: Golden tabby with white chest and blue eyes.

Deputy: Duskwing/Brunnhilde: Blue ticked Abyssinian with tan belly, brown eyes.

Medicine Cat: Viperfrost/Loki: Black and white striped fur, green eyes.

Warriors:

Echogrove/Jane: Bobtail torbi, green eyes.

Raventail/Sif: Gray tabby, amber eyes.

Elkvine/Selvig: White fur, blue eyes.

Goldenchase/Fandral: golden fur, lavender eyes.

Nightleap/Hogun: Black fur, blue eyes

Goosepounce/Volstagg: Brown tabby, amber eyes.

Ratclaw/Skurge: White with a long black stripe on his back, brown eyes.

Elders:

Goldeneye/Heimdall: Dark brown tabby with golden eyes.

RiverClan: Leader: Greenstar/Bruce: Olive green fur, green eyes.

Deputy: Redthorn/Thaddeus: White with auburn paws.

Medicine Cat: Whispersight/Vision: Ruddy fur, yellow fur surrounding nose, amber eyes.

Warriors:

Specklefoot/Betty: White with black speckles on feet and tail-tip.

Crystalfoot/Helen Cho: Gray, gray eyes.

Quicksilver/Pietro: Blue-gray, green eyes.

Carol/Brightstorm: Bright orange, green eyes

Apprentices:

Scarletpaw/Wanda: calico, blue eyes. Mentor: Whispersight.

WindClan:

Leader: Eaglestar/Steve: Ticked golden tabby, gray eyes.

Deputy: Falconswoop/Sam: gray with orange specks on face.

Medicine Cat: Whitewolf/Bucky: solid white, green eyes.

Warriors:

Hawkeye/Clint: solid tan, lavender eyes, Oriental ears

Darkhill/Maria: tuxedo cat, blue eyes.

Pantherclaw/T'Challa: solid black, brown eyes.

Dawnclaw/Peggy: Calico, blue eyes.

Apprentices:

Pricklepaw/Shuri: solid black with white speckles around face, amber eyes. Mentor: Whitewolf

Shadepaw/Sharon: tortoiseshell, green eyes. Mentor: Dawnclaw

StarClan:

Halfstar/Nick: Solid black with white tail, brown eyes. Former ShadowClan leader

Antfang/Hank: Dark gray, orange eyes

Waspflower/Janet: Cream tabby, green eyes.

Fringefern/Frigga: Fawn calico, green eyes

Wrenfur/Wong: small brown tabby, amber eyes

Howlspring/Doctor Erskine: Gray and white, lavender eyes

Kittypets:

Scott/Scott Lang: Cream with lilac points, blue eyes.

Hope/Hope Van Dyne: Cream and gray tortoiseshell, green eyes

Mantis: silver bobtail, green eyes.

Loners/Rogues:

Nebula: blue-gray and black, lavender eyes

Thanos: blue-gray tabby, green eyes

Quill: Golden tabby, green eyes

Gamora: olive green and orange striped fur, green eyes

Drax: Brown with orange stripes, gray eyes

Rocket: Brown with white stripes, brown eyes

Groot: tan tabby, brown eyes

Corvus/Corvus Glaive: Black tom with green eyes.

Midnight/Proxima Midnight: Black and white harlequin patterned fur, blue eyes.Lynx-like ear tufts.

Ebony/Ebony Maw: silver bullseye tabby, brown eyes.

Obsidian/Cull Obisidian: mottled brown fur and yellow eyes. Spiky fur

Place of No Stars:

Darkleaf/Hela: black with white ears, green eyes

Morningfang/Odin: White tom with black legs and tail, blue eyes


	2. Prologue

Padding through star-glazed puddles was an elderly, one-eyed black tom with a white tail. A brown and white she-kit and a white tom-kit bounced after him.

"Grandpa Halfstar, what's the matter?" The tom-kit asked.

"I'm not your grandpa, kids. But… something bad is going to happen. Something that could hurt your parents and brother very much." Halfstar replied, peering through a puddle to observe a fluffy brown tabby tom with a white chest, curled around an orange tabby she-cat, curled around a young orange and white tom-kit.

"What could happen to them?" Asked the white tom-kit.

"I don't even know yet…" Halfstar sighed. "But they're going to need lots of tough warriors to stop it." He added.

"What can we do?" Asked the kits.

"Nothing. But me and the other grown-ups may be able to do something." Halfstar said as other cats approached him and formed a circle. Starlight began to sprinkle down from them and into the puddles.

"Woah… what will all that light do? Where is it going?" The tom-kit asked.

"It will go to the world of the living. But we don't know at all what it will do…" Halfstar said. The starlight sprinkled down onto thick forests and marshy pine thickets, onto winding rivers and wide plains, onto caves and Twoleg houses. Whoever would be blessed– or cursed– with it, was a mystery not even StarClan could solve.


	3. Momentary Peace

Sunlight filtering through the shrubs around the camp was what awoke Silverstar, leader of ShadowClan. He could see Poppyfire and Vinekit already having a breakfast of mice. He walked up beside them, affectionately licking Poppyfire's ear.

"Good morning, honey." He said. Poppyfire purred, and Sharpheart approached him.

"You slept in." Sharpheart said.

"My bad." Silverstar said.

"Relax, it's fine. I sent the patrols out, and Emberstone is out looking for catmint." Sharpheart said.

"So, lazy morning for us?" Silverstar said, stretching.

"Seems like it. But knowing Shadespark, she'll judge us for it, since we didn't really do much yesterday, either. I should have sent her out hunting." Sharpheart said. The ebony-furred she-cat in question pretended not to hear him as she took a frog and retreated to the outskirts of the camp.

"We know you heard us!" Silverstar said.

"I know." Shadespark said, smiling softly as Vinekit jumped up beside her.

"Can I go outside of camp with you today?" He asked.

"Not today, kiddo. But if you ask your dad, I'm sure he could make me your mentor. You're five moons, right? Not long at all." Shadespark said.

"Nah. I wanna be a medicine cat." Vinekit said.

"That's a lot of commitment. You sure you're up for it?" Shadespark asked.

"Yeah!" Vinekit replied.

"She's really good with kits, when she's at ease." Sharpheart observed.

"She sure is. Well, if I want to get her off our backs, I might as well catch up with Spiderpaw." Silverstar sighed, trotting off. He soon found Spiderpaw, his aunt Leafbreeze, and Happy, all on border patrol.

"Silverstar!" Spiderpaw exclaimed, grinning when he saw his mentor.

"Get him away from me." Happy said in exaggerated horror.

"Alright. You can head back to camp and take Vinekit off of Poppyfire's paws for a while." Silverstar replied.

"Alas, one horror has been exchanged for another." Happy sighed, heading back to camp.

"Come on, kid, let's finish up, and then we can practice battle moves." Silverstar said.

"Yeah!" Spiderpaw cheered.

Silverstar sighed. "I love days like these… the kind of day where nothing can go wrong."

* * *

"How did this all go so wrong?" Scarletpaw, apprentice medicine cat of RiverClan, asked. Whispersight had sent her out to collect herbs, but her older brother Quicksilver insisted on coming with, out of curiosity about the herbs themselves. But she had stepped over the RiverClan-ThunderClan border when picking bright-eye, and now a ThunderClan cat named Ratclaw had her held hostage.

"You can't do this to me. I'm a medicine cat, I am neutral." Scarletpaw insisted.

"Save it." Ratclaw growled.

Scarletpaw grimaced. Quicksilver would be on his way any moment, and he wouldn't care about borders at all.

"You need to let me go back, or my brother will come after me, and he'll be really angry. You do not want to see him angry!" Scarletpaw said. She herself was already fuming, but Whispersight's pacifist methods had rubbed off on her all too well. She couldn't help but despise him and Greenstar for that, they were both so timid when dealing with the other Clans!

"I'll take my chances." Ratclaw said. Scarletpaw huffed, sitting down on the ground.

"I bet StarClan disapproves of what you're doing." Scarletpaw said.

"Be quiet." Ratclaw hissed.

"Let me go, and you'll never have to hear me talk again." Scarletpaw pointed out.

"What's going on? Why do you have the RiverClan medicine cat with you?" Said the deep voice of Stormstar, the ThunderClan leader.

"Stormstar, she trespassed on our territory!"

"I stepped over on accident, and he dragged me all the way here!"

Stormstar looked at Scarletpaw's captor in dismay. "You're an absolute idiot!" He whacked him on the nose.

"But she tresp–"

"SCARLETPAAAAAAAAW!"

Quicksilver tackled the two ThunderClan warriors to the ground, claws on their throats. Stormstar shoved him away, looking frustrated.

"Quicksilver, I'm fine!" Scarletpaw insisted. She turned to face Stormstar, bowing her head respectfully. "Please, please, please forgive my brother. He didn't know what was going on, I swear." She said.

"We'll forgive you, but I'll escort you to the border as well." Stormstar said. Quicksilver and Scarletpaw nodded, following him over to the border, where Greenstar was waiting.

"What happened?" Greenstar asked.

"Scarletpaw stepped over the border. Her brother and one of my warriors allowed the simple misunderstanding to escalate." Stormstar explained.

"I see. Quicksilver, tick-picking for a week." Greenstar said.

"I thought she was in danger!" Quicksilver exclaimed.

"There are easier, less reckless, less violent ways to go about that." Greenstar said. Quicksilver scowled, kicking up dust.

"Well, it seems we've settled this. I bid you farewell, Greenstar." Stormstar said, rubbing up against Greenstar's neck.

"See ya." Greenstar called to him, padding away with Quicksilver and Scarletpaw. Soon they were back at camp.

"Is there anything I can do to get my sentence shortened? Please?" Quicksilver asked.

"Sentence? For StarClan's sake, this isn't exile!" Greenstar snorted.

"No. It's worse." Quicksilver whispered to himself. He glanced over at the sprawling plains that belonged to WindClan… he was loyal to RiverClan and RiverClan alone, but with his natural speed, that seemed unusually boosted today, there was so much he'd give to be able to run up and down WindClan's sprawling plains…

* * *

"Come on! Come on, Pricklepaw!" Whitewolf shouted to his apprentice, as they sped across the heathery moor.

"I bet I can outrun you!" Pricklepaw affectionately jeered, before indeed outrunning Whitewolf and arriving at their destination.

"Nice." Whitewolf said with a proud smirk. He parted the long grass in front of them to show her what he had found: a huge supply of marigold, unlike anything they had seen before.

"Incredible. I've never seen that much marigold growing in one place!" Pricklepaw gasped.

"You can thank your brother." Whitewolf informed her. Pantherclaw skidded to a stop beside them.

"You like it, right?" He asked.

"Like it? I love it! Thank you, brother!" Pricklepaw said.

"You're very welcome. On the topic of herbs, though, Falconswoop has been complaining about soreness for awhile…"

"I swear, he's younger than you and yet he has the grumpiness of an elder." Pricklepaw sighed.

"I can deal with him. You two better bring all this marigold back." Whitewolf said.

"And by deal with him, do you mean just give him poppy seeds until he falls asleep, like last time?" Pricklepaw asked.

"Maybe." Whitewolf chuckled. He did indeed give Falconswoop poppy seeds, but this time wrapped in proper herbs for soreness. Soon Falconswoop was fast asleep, much to Eaglestar's dismay.

"Huh. I was going to go on a border patrol with him." Was all the ticked tabby said as he found Falconswoop fast asleep in Whitewolf's den.

"Didn't Shadepaw do that this morning?" Whitewolf asked.

"Yes, but it was rather sloppy. I thought I'd do another one. Eaglestar said. "I suppose I can go alone." He said, nodding farewell to Whitewolf and heading out of the camp. He strolled peacefully through the moor, enjoying the scent of heather and yesterday's rain. He could certainly run fast, it was a natural WindClan talent, but he still enjoyed taking it slow and enjoying nature. He made his way up to the border, when his peaceful stroll was interrupted by the sound of screaming. He looked around wildly, before seeing the source: a cream, lilac-point kit, being swept down the river between RiverClan and WindClan territory, helpless against the raging current.

"Don't worry, I got you!" Eaglestar shouted, chasing after the kit and grabbing it by its scruff. But to his surprise, he reached down to rescue a kit… and pulled out a fully grown tom.


	4. Learning From StarClan

"You guys are really going to go out exploring the wilderness?"

"But the cats out there eat housecats for breakfast! You're walking into the belly of the beast!"

"Good luck!"

"Bring me back a pine cone if you plan to see the light of day once again."

"They are so going to get lost."

"Keep an eye out for tree roots that could trip you!"

"Have fun, you two!"

The pair of housecats known as Scott and Hope listened to the waves of comments from the other housecats of their neighborhood. The two were bored of domesticated life, they wanted to try a night or two out in the open, and learn everything they could about the world beyond their cozy house! Rumors abounded about strange and dangerous wild cats, but they were unperturbed. The rumors were silly and overblown, what kind of cat would want to live in the wilderness their whole life?

Scott and Hope walked alongside the river, enjoying the fresh air. They had never gotten along well at the shelter where Scott had been brought young and orphaned, around the same time as Hope's pregnant mother. But a Twoleg had taken them both in, and slowly but surely, they were starting to get along better. What better way to become closer than a night out in the wild? Who knew what they would find!

"You know," Scott said as he gracefully made his way across the pebbly shore of the river, "I bet I could knock all these stones into the river and not fall in." He boasted.

"Then do it." Hope said. Scott grinned, kicking up stones with his back paws, when suddenly, he slipped on the mud beneath the stones, falling into the river and being rushed away.

"Scott!" Hope called out. Scott struggled valiantly to keep his head above water, while Hope chased after him, but he couldn't struggle forever. Scott's screaming cut off as he sunk into the river.

"No!" Hope shouted, preparing to jump in after him. But she stopped when a high-pitched wail cut the silence, and a kit identical to Scott emerged from the water, flailing and screaming.

"Don't worry, I got you!" A voice shouted from across the river. A golden ticked tabby dashed over and grabbed the kit by his scruff, pulling out Scott instead, fully grown and gasping for air and from fear.

"Wha– where's the kit?" The ticked tabby said.

"The kit was me! I don't know how or why, but it was me!" Scott said. He began panting and shrilling about how whatever happened made no sense, on the verge of panic.

The ticked tabby stared at Scott in shock. "It was you?" He said.

"Yes!" Scott insisted, surprised by how the stranger seemed to accept what he said so easily. When he was met with silence, he decided to speak. "So, uh… are you, anyways? My name is Scott, and that's my friend Hope." Scott introduced himself. Hope had jumped across a few slippery boulders in the river to meet up with Scott and the stranger.

The golden tabby spoke. "My name is Eaglestar, leader of a group called WindClan. If you want to know what happened, I need you to come with me. I don't know what's going on, but I have a way to find out."

* * *

Soon, Scott was resting cozily in the medicine cat's den.

"How did you fall into the river, anyways?" Pricklepaw asked as she watched him.

"Well, I saw an innocent little kit fall into the river, and I leaped in to carry it to safety. But the current overpowered me and swept me and the kit away towards the waterfall until Eaglestar rescued us." Scott said, puffing his chest out. These wild cats were strong and mysterious, he wanted to impress them.

"He was kicking up rocks, and he tripped and fell into the river." Hope corrected.

"Hmm. Makes more sense for a kittypet." Pricklepaw said. Scott grunted in embarrassment, as Eaglestar climbed into the den.

"Scott, Hope. If you're up for the journey, I'd like to ask you to accompany me and Whitewolf to a place called Highstones this evening. There, we may be able to learn more about the strange things that happened to Scott when he fell into the river." Eaglestar said.

"What strange things?" Pricklepaw asked.

"We're not sure yet. That's why we're going to Highstones." Whitewolf said.

"Only if Scott and Hope agree to come with." Eaglestar pointed out. Scott and Hope nodded.

"We'll do it. We ventured into the forest to explore, how could we say no to this?" Scott said.

"Excellent. Until then," Eaglestar paused to look around, before spotting two warriors sunning themselves, having nothing to do. "Dawnclaw! Hawkeye!" He asked for them, and they trotted over.

"Yes?" Hawkeye asked.

"These two are our guests, and I'll be taking them somewhere with me this evening. Keep them occupied until then." Eaglestar explained.

"So we're taking in kittypets now?" Dawnclaw said with a disapproving sniff at their collars: Scott's gray with a red tag, and Hope's blue with a yellow tag.

"We're not taking in anyone. But they and I have important questions." Eaglestar said.

"Hmm…" Dawnclaw said. "Very well, then. If you want to stay with us, even for a little, you'll hunt for us." She said.

"Okay." The two kittypets said together. Hawkeye looked amused.

"What do you know? These two may be useful while they're here." He said.

* * *

"They're useless." Dawnclaw said a few minutes later, watching Scott and Hope's meager attempts to catch prey.

"Scott! You have to stand downwind of the prey, so they can't smell you coming! Hope, get your tail down, it's sticking up like a bulrush! And neither one of you will catch anything at all if you don't run faster!" Hawkeye called out. But the pale-furred pair could hardly catch anything. Dawnclaw padded over to them, unable to watch this go on any longer.

"Hey, you can't get mad at us, we've never done this before! And we're not sticking around, either." Scott said.

"Hope, you're actually doing quite well for a kittypet. I'm not mad at you." Dawnclaw said.

"Thank you." Hope said.

"Now, Scott, perhaps you're not suited for hunting on the moor. Would you be interested in trying out in the tunnels?" Dawnclaw said.

"Tunnels?" Scott echoed.

"Yes. There are plenty of them, all over WindClan territory. Some even extend out to the other Clans' territories. Hunting and patrolling down there is reserved for the small, lithe, and swift warriors, such as myself and Darkhill. You might do much better down there, while you're visiting us." Dawnclaw explained.

"Sounds cool with me." Scott said.

"Good luck!" Hope said, before standing beside Hawkeye to ask for help on hunting. Even if it was a short stay, she wanted to learn as much as she could. And so did Scott, as he quickly became accustomed to the quietness and the musky scent of the subterranean labyrinth. When he emerged from the tunnel later with Dawnclaw, he proudly carried a plump gopher in his teeth back to the camp, while Hope had two rabbits.

"You did good!" Scott said, nuzzling up against her.

"So did you." Hope purred. Eaglestar approached them.

"You're not too worn out to travel yet, are you?" He asked.

"We're good! Now I'm even more excited to see what kind of place you're taking us too!" Scott said.

"Good to hear. Rest until evening, because none of us can eat anything on the way to Highstones. Ideally, we'll arrive at midnight. Whitewolf said. The kittypets seemed surprised and confused, but agreed. They were here to learn. Darkhill shook her head in dismay, watching from a distance.

"Eaglestar is unbelievable. The lengths he'll go to out of curiosity! And those kittypets are too trusting… they're lucky we found them, and not some rogues, or worse, ShadowClan." She whispered under her breath.

* * *

Meanwhile in ShadowClan, Emberstone was trying to get Vinekit off of his tail, in the literal sense.

"You can't get away from me, ya dumb snake!" Vinekit yowled. Emberstone nonchalantly lifted his tail up in the air, wrapping it loosely around Vinekit's neck.

"Oh no. The snake has captured and suffocated you." Emberstone said.

"No!" Vinekit pouted, biting down on Emberstone's tail. Emberstone chuckled a little as he released his grip on Vinekit.

"If you'll excuse me, Poppyfire has been complaining about pains in her chest, I have to check on her." Emberstone said. He strode over to the nursery where Poppyfire sat, Vinekit following close behind.

"Mom! I caught his tail in my mouth!" Vinekit boasted.

"That's nice!" Poppyfire said.

"It sure is. He's becoming quite the hunter! He'll be a fine warrior." Emberstone said.

"No, I'm going to be a medicine cat!" Vinekit said.

"Ugh…" Emberstone sighed as he checked Poppyfire's chest for what could be causing her pain. Vinekit was nice enough, but mentoring him? It would be a nightmare. "Well, Poppyfire, it seems you have a mild case of whitecough. I'll go get you some—" Emberstone screeched in pain before he could finish. The hazy image of the Moonstone greeted him. Four pairs of eyes stared at him with a mixture of emotions, but he could not see the cats they belonged to. When the vision faded, he was gasping for air.

"Emberstone! What happened?!" Poppyfire shouted. Emberstone paused for a split-second, before ruffling his fur and slinking silently away towards his den. He returned with a few catnip leaves, placing them in front of Poppyfire.

"Take these. I need to go." Emberstone said, before padding over to the edge of camp. He tried to clear his mind. He had received omens from StarClan before, but never like this. But more visions suddenly filled his mind, this time without the pain, but just as startling. He saw a gray tail and a cream tail brush against him, as he sat in the Moonstone's cave again. Blue eyes and green eyes stared at him, and then the vision ended. Emberstone didn't hesitate, as he took off bounding towards Highstones. He didn't even stop when he passed a WindClan patrol, muttering, "Highstones!" And continuing towards the land of dust and rock that awaited him. He only stopped when he was finally right in front of Mothermouth. Once he had caught his breath, he entered the cave, the coldness adding to the fearful chill in his bones.

Emberstone navigated the cave calmly, having traveled to its center countless times before. He froze when he heard hushed voices coming from a tunnel below.

"So, two cats we don't know leading us through a dark tunnel, and not telling us what we'll find at the end. Nothing suspicious about it at all."

"Relax, Scott. We'll be fine. I'm sure of it, somehow."

"Hmm…" Emberstone said, going a little bit faster. He wanted to see these mystery cats. He arrived at the Moonstone at the same time as Eaglestar, Whitewolf, and two kittypets, one white with gray points and one a cream and gray tortoiseshell. They were the ones from his second vision.

"Emberstone, what brings you here?" Whitewolf said.

"Instinct. Meanwhile, I'm pretty curious as to what these kittypets are doing here." Emberstone said.

"They agreed to come here. I needed to bring them here, after…" Eaglestar hesitated. He hadn't told anyone, not even Whitewolf, but last night he had dreamt of his dearly departed mentor Howlspring frantically warning him of some grave, mysterious danger. Then he had seen himself standing beside many cats, some from WindClan, some from other Clans, and some not from Clans, including Scott and Hope.

"They're here, and that's all that matters. When the moon is shining down on the Moonstone, you all must lay down and touch it with your nose." Whitewolf said, right as the first sliver of moonlight began to filter down and illuminate the Moonstone. Scott and Hope shrunk back from its majesty.

"Right now." Emberstone said, nudging them forward. Everyone pressed their noses to the Moonstone, falling into a trance under the moonlight. All five of them awoke in a sunny plain.

"Hello." Said a green-eyed cream tabby she-cat. Standing beside her was a dark gray tom with amber eyes.

"Hello… who are you? What is this place?" Hope said.

"This is StarClan, where are warrior ancestors watch over us from the night sky. We're not supposed to share one dream, though…" Emberstone said.

"We made it so that you will. My name is Antfang, and this is Waspflower." The tom said.

"But my mother's name was Waspflower. She said my fathers name was Antfang."Hope gasped immediately. "It's been a whole day and I never put two and two together…"

"Hope, my little Beankit." Waspflower purred. Hope recognized the name her mother had given her as a kit in an instant. Her parents… were WindClan warriors. And she could have been one, too.

"Mom! Dad!" Hope shouted with glee, running up to them and rubbing up against their heads.

"It's so good to finally see you…" Antfang said. When Hope finally stepped back, Eaglestar stepped forward.

"I don't understand, how did Hope become a kittypet if she's your daughter? And just when did you die? You both gave me two of my nine lives, and that wasn't even a season ago…" Eaglestar said. He had been three moons old when Antfang and Waspflower had disappeared, Waspflower heavily pregnant with the kit that would apparently grow up to become Hope. They had been like a second pair of parents to him, and when they were supposedly killed by a badger passing through, he had been heartbroken.

"We ran into a badger on a walk. The damn thing killed me, wounded Waspflower, and chased her all the way to Twolegplace." Antfang said.

"Twolegs found me and took me to a shelter, where I had my kits a week later. Only Hope survived, as we all got sick from all the unusual substances there. I named her Beankit, but the Twolegs gave her the name Hope. Also a fine name, I must admit. She was indeed my only ray of hope, before I…" Waspflower trailed off.

"Before your sickness and your wound were too much, and you died. When I was only a moon old." Hope finished, shuddering as she remembered the traumatic experience.

"I was reunited with Antfang. The Twolegs brought Scott, and you couldn't stay upset with his shenanigans." Waspflower purred.

"Yeah…" Hope sighed.

"This family reunion is sweet and all, but can we get to business?" Emberstone butted in.

"Of course." Said Halfstar, emerging from the trees. He walked alongside Emberstone, Eaglestar, and Whitewolf, while Hope and Scott stayed with Waspflower and Antfang.

"So, just what is the deal?" Emberstone asked.

"We don't even know. All that we do know is that a grave threat is coming. We've sent our power down to your world in falling starlight, but whoever's been empowered by it, we don't know. So far, Scott's shrinking and Emberstone's visions of the future have been the only powers to awaken." Halfstar said.

"Powers? So you're saying they can learn to control it?" Whitewolf said.

"Yes. But it will be hard, especially since we have no more information on what's to come." Halfstar said.

"Well, if I can see the future, I may be able to find out what you can not." Emberstone said.

"Like how I'll ask Silverstar to whack you on the nose if you keep up your attitude?" Halfstar replied.

"Hmph." Emberstone scraped at the dirt with his paws.

"Whatever. What do you need us to do?" Eaglestar asked.

"Be vigilant. Be open-minded. Be ready." Halfstar said as the environment around them began to fade. "Midnight is coming to a close. Goodbye." Halfstar said, before the five cats awoke in the cave again.

"Wow…" Whitewolf said. Eaglestar paced up to the kittypets.

"We'd welcome you in WindClan, Hope. But don't feel obligated to join just because your parents–"

"No. I want to participate in my heritage." Hope cut him off.

"And I want to stay by Hope's side." Scott added. Eaglestar blinked in surprise, before nodding.

* * *

"Antpaw! Wasppaw! Antpaw! Wasppaw!" WindClan chanted proudly the next morning, welcoming their newest, proudly collarless, warriors-to-be. Scott and Hope had chosen to be named after Antfang and Waspflower, respectively.

"Welcome to the Clan!" Said Hawkeye, Wasppaw's mentor.

"You two better be ready to train extra hard if you plan to be real warriors. You're much older than our other apprentices." Said Darkhill, tasked with mentoring Antpaw.

"We will." Antpaw promised.

"But for now, they need to rest. They've been traveling the entire night." Whitewolf said. Their mentors reluctantly nodded.

"Be up by noon. Then we begin." Darkhill said as Antpaw and Wasppaw went to make their nests in their new dens.

"Of course. Thank you for giving us a chance." Wasppaw said. Darkhill seemed impressed, and she and Hawkeye left the two to sleep. Antpaw and Wasppaw slept side by side, excited to face whatever was to come, together.


	5. Tensions

I added some new characters to the allegiances, so be sure to check it out if you’re following this story as it’s being updated! 

It had been a week since Antpaw and Wasppaw had joined WindClan, and they had latched on immediately. They were learning and growing quickly, and Wasppaw even learned that StarClan had given her the ability to control bugs. The two were even closer to each other than they had ever been before.

"We may need to give them their warrior names early, or soon we'll have to explain at the Gathering why two of our apprentices are having kits!" Falconswoop said as he watched the two leave with their mentors to hunt, tails intertwined.

"That would be wonderful, but you can't just assume. Remember when I thought Greenstar had taken a mate because he kept talking to this she-cat at the Gatherings, but she turned out to be a ShadowClan warrior, named Shadespark?" Eaglestar chuckled. "Let's go hunting." He said. Falconswoop twitched his whiskers in agreement, and the two bounded out of the camp. Eaglestar yelped in surprise when Falconswoop jumped at least ten cat-lengths into the air.

"Falconswoop! That was incredible!" Eaglestar gasped. Falconswoop stared at his own paws in awe, before grinning.

"Looks like I got powers from StarClan too. Sweet!" He said.

"Nobody deserves such powers more than you." Eaglestar said. Falconswoop had a look of smug agreement on his face as he began to bound across the moor with his huge jumps. He and Eaglestar brought back five rabbits and three thrushes to the fresh-kill pile.

"Awesome!" Hawkeye gasped at their catches, as Wasppaw accompanied him with two fat moles in her mouth.

"How'd you catch moles? I thought you were a moor runner." Falconswoop asked.

"I lured them above ground with my insects." Wasppaw said.

"I helped!" Antpaw added, covered head to toe in dirt.

"That's excellent to hear. What do you suppose we do, now that we don't need to worry about food?" Eaglestar said.

"I say we let the apprentices relax in their den! They've earned it with how hard they've been working." Hawkeye said.

"But I'm not tired at all." Shadepaw pointed out.

"You can come walking with me if you want." Eaglestar said.

"Okay." Shadepaw said as she stretched her legs, calmly striding out of camp with him.

"So, how are things between you and Dawnclaw?" Shadepaw asked.

"Things are going great between us. She's one of my closest friends, and if something were to happen to me or Falconswoop, I would want her to become deputy.

"Ah… I see. Sorry, it's just with how close you are, I assumed…" Shadepaw trailed off.

"You assumed what?" Eaglestar asked, before realizing exactly what she was getting at. He flicked his tail in embarrassment.

"Sorry. I shouldn't have brought it up. I'm glad to hear the Clan is in good paws, though." Shadepaw apologized. Eaglestar smiled at her, as they reached the short border with ThunderClan. Three ThunderClan warriors named Echogrove, Goldenchase, and Ratclaw were patrolling the border.

"Hello, Echogrove!" Eaglestar called out. Echogrove was a close friend of his.

"Hi!" Echogrove replied.

"Greetings." Ratclaw said, eyeing the ground carefully.

"How are you doing?" Eaglestar said.

"Pretty good, although we had to deal with RiverClan trying to invade us a week ago." Ratclaw answered.

"Ratclaw, that was the medicine cat apprentice. She took one step over it on accident." Echogrove said. Eaglestar grimaced upon hearing that. He didn't know Ratclaw well, but from what he had heard about him from Echogrove, the white and black warrior had a good heart, but was distrusting and scornful. It was sad to see that distrustfulness take effect.

"Are we going or what?" Goldenchase asked, hopping around.

"Of course." Echogrove said, when suddenly lightning crashed down out of nowhere, sending the tree above them crashing down. Everyone screamed, before Eaglestar instinctively leaped towards the falling tree and pushing it away with one shove. He turned back to look at the others, before realizing just what he had done. He stared down at himself in disbelief.

"How did you do that?!" Echogrove gasped.

"I… I'm on a life of strength. Didn't think it would manifest like this." Eaglestar said.

"That's incredible…" Echogrove said.

"It is, but standing here and guffawing won't do us much. Let's carry on." Goldenchase said.

"Of course." Echogrove said, shuffling away. She still cast awed stares back at Eaglestar, before she slipped into the undergrowth. Eaglestar held his paw up to his face. Faintly glowing, silver-tinged blood ran threw its veins. Thinking back, he remembered seeing that same silver blood whenever Antpaw shrunk, or Wasppaw spoke to insects, or Falconswoop jumped.

"So I've been blessed with power from StarClan as well…" He whispered.

"Is something the matter?" Shadepaw asked.

"No. Let's head back to camp, I need to talk to Whitewolf and Falconswoop." Eaglestar smiled.

* * *

Ratclaw's patrol soon arrived back at the ThunderClan camp. Nightleap and Goosepounce greeted them. Raventail and Elkvine dropped off prey at the fresh-kill pile, and Goldeneye purred as he shared stories with Duskwing. Echogrove bounded up to Stormstar's den, where she found him sneezing and coughing.

"He came to me while you were on patrol. He has greencough." Viperfrost explained. Echogrove's tail drooped with worry upon hearing that. They were in the middle of leaf-fall, and while prey was still plentiful, it wouldn't stay that way.

"Does it look like he may lose a life?" Echogrove asked.

"Maybe." Viperfrost said.

"Well, what can I do to help?" Echogrove asked.

"Bring him something to eat, and some tansy." Viperfrost said. Originally, he had trained as a warrior and Echogrove as a medicine cat, so she knew exactly what to get.

"On it." Echogrove said, dashing away. She heard Stormstar sneeze again, and lightning struck from out of the blue once again. "What in the world?" She said as she fetched a mouse and a sprig of tansy.

"What is with that weather?" Goldeneye wondered.

"It's happening whenever Stormstar sneezes." Echogrove said.

"Don't tell me he can really control storms now." Duskwing laughed.

"It would make sense." Echogrove admitted. She returned to Stormstar's den, only to freeze in her tracks. Stormstar laid collapsed in his den, eyes wide open and glazed over.

"Is he–"

"He'll have three lives left after this." Viperfrost answered solemnly. Echogrove drew in air sharply, prodding Stormstar's lifeless body with her paw.

"Don't touch him!" Viperfrost hissed. "Or do you want to get sick too?!"

"Ah! What should I do?" Echogrove asked.

"Go to Sunningrocks and wash. Your. Paw." Viperfrost growled irritably. Echogrove did as he said, dashing off towards the river. Viperfrost looked down at Stormstar, curious. The dusky-striped medicine cat often saw his and Stormstar's mother when he visited the Moonstone, but never their estranged sister Darkleaf or their father, Morningfang. Who would be visiting Stormstar right now, before he came back to life?

Stormstar awoke in Sunningrocks, or at least what looked like Sunningrocks. It was a seemingly never-ending field of warm stones that scampered with prey, parallel to a calm and clear river stretching on and on.

"My son." A voice called to him.

"Fringefern." Stormstar purred, not even needing to turn his head. Fringefern nuzzled into his neck, happy to see her son again.

"You fought valiantly against the greencough. You shall return to your seventh life, strong and proud." Fringefern said.

"Will I be cured?" Stormstar asked.

"No, you will have to count on Viperfrost for that." Fringefern replied. "But it is good that you are here. One week ago, StarClan sent their power down to the Clans, to combat a darkness that lurks on the horizon. It will be more powerful than anything you have ever faced before, and ThunderClan alone cannot defeat it." Fringefern said.

"What do you mean, you sent your power down to us? How so?" Stormstar asked.

"Many cats had been blessed with strange abilities. You yourself are one of them. Did you not notice the way the weather changed when you coughed?" Fringefern said.

"That's my power?" Stormstar said.

"Yes. Stormstar, you have been blessed with the ability to control the weather itself." Fringefern said. Stormstar paused for a moment, then spoke.

"I thank you and all of StarClan for this great blessing. I promise I shall do my best to make you proud and carry out your will." Stormstar said, bowing his head.

"You are very welcome, my dear son." Fringefern said, right before Stormstar awoke in his den.

"Welcome back." Viperfrost said.

"Fringefern spoke to me. She warned me of a great darkness, and said that StarClan has given many cats magnificent powers in order to combat that darkness." Stormstar said. An intrigued look crossed Viperfrost's face.

"Really? Did she tell you which cats have what pow–"

"RiverClan is invading Sunningrocks!"

Viperfrost rushed out of the den, while Stormstar stumbled after. Duskwing was talking to Nightleap, who had reported the invasion.

"There are three warriors there, lounging about like they own the place! Quicksilver, Redthorn, and Brightstorm." Nightleap said.

"Ratclaw! Come with me and Nightleap! We have to teach them a lesson!" Duskwing shouted.

"Wait!" Stormstar shouted, but they were already gone.

"Stormstar, RiverClan is invading our territory. Why would you want them to wait?" Viperfrost asked.

"I've known Greenstar my whole life, he would not authorize this. I must go after them." Stormstar said. Gathering his strength, he took off at a brisk pace in the direction of Sunningrocks. But by the time he arrived, the battle had been decided– and both RiverClan and ThunderClan had paid a dear price.

"Quicksilver! Quicksilver, get up!" Brightstorm said, pawing at the blue-gray warrior. Blood oozed from his neck, which had been snapped by Ratclaw's mighty teeth. Ratclaw himself was bleeding from his skull, eyes wide open and glazed over. Redthorn has slammed him into the rocks after Quicksilver had been killed, shattering his skull. Duskwing and Nightleap wept over his body, while Brightstorm and Redthorn mourned for Quicksilver. Not long after Stormstar had arrived, Viperfrost followed after him, while Greenstar, Whispersight, Specklefoot, and Scarletpaw arrived from their territory at the same time.

"Great StarClan…" Whispersight said.

"Quicksilver!" Scarletpaw screamed, leaping into the river and swimming across in no time at all. "Quicksilver, no!" She yowled, shoving her face into the fur on his neck. "Quicksilver…"

"Redthorn! Brightstorm!" Greenstar snarled. The two warriors swam across to him.

"Yes, Greenstar?" Brightstorm asked.

"I did not authorize this attack. What were you thinking?!" Greenstar said.

"We were thinking that ThunderClan's gotten too big for their own pelts, because you have been soft on them!" Redthorn hissed.

"And look where it got you! Quicksilver is dead!" Greenstar snapped.

"He died a warrior's death! Something you seem to be afraid of doing yourself!" Redthorn said. Only now did Stormstar realize how the RiverClan deputy towered over his leader.

"Warrior's death, schmarrior's death. He's only been a warrior for two moons, and now he's gone." Greenstar said coldly. Stormstar noticed something odd. At first he thought it was just Greenstar fluffing out his already long and luscious pelt, but now it seemed as though Greenstar was getting… bigger.

"You should not have done this." Specklefoot growled to her father.

"Which is why you're no longer my deputy, or even a RiverClan warrior, Redthorn. You're exiled. Brightstorm, take him to the border." Greenstar said.

"Exiled?" Redthorn said.

"Yes." Greenstar said.

"Well then there's nothing stopping me from attacking Brightstorm right here and now." Redthorn said with a snarl, lunging into the orange she-cat and knocking her to the ground. Brightstorm snarled, tackling Redthorn with more force than her lithe body could normally carry.

"How in the world did you even do that?" Redthorn hissed.

"She must have absorbed the energy from the blow somehow…" Whispersight gasped.

"Leave, Redthorn." Specklefoot hissed. Redthorn snarled, before stomping off away from RiverClan territory. Greenstar sighed.

"I say these words before the spirits of StarClan, so that they may hear and approve of my choice. Specklefoot will be the new deputy of RiverClan." He announced.

"Th-thank you… thank you, Greenstar." Specklefoot said, standing beside her former apprentice, Brightstorm. Scarletpaw still sobbed as she rested her head in her brother's fur.

"What are we going to do about him?" Whispersight asked.

"You can bury him here, if you'd like." Stormstar said.

"We'll take you up on your offer." Greenstar said. Scarletpaw still trembled as she stepped away from Quicksilver's body. The RiverClan cats quickly buried Quicksilver, their faces full of sorrow. When they had finished, Greenstar turned to face Stormstar.

"Stormstar, I did not authorize this at all, and I cannot apologize enough." Greenstar said.

"You already have. Farewell, Greenstar. I hope to see you on more peaceful terms at the Gathering." Stormstar said, picking up Ratclaw's body and carrying it back to ThunderClan's camp with Duskwing and Nightleap. Duskwing had acted reckless like Redthorn, but at least she had been acting in defense of the Clan. He flinched when he saw the horrified faces of his Clanmates, and heard their heartbroken yowls. Fringefern had said that ThunderClan could not fight the darkness alone, but how could they fight alongside the other Clans if they were so constantly fighting against them?


	6. Quicksilver’s Vigil

Note: Movies ScarletVision is cute and all, but please don’t make any flirty or shippy comments about them in reference to this fic, Scarletpaw is a teenager in cat years and Whispersight is an adult.

 

Almost all of RiverClan stood together in the center of their island camp, sitting vigil for the warrior that they weren’t even allowed to bring back to bury: Quicksilver.

 

“May StarClan light your path, Quicksilver. May you find good hunting, swift running, and shelter when you sleep.” Scarletpaw choked out, blessing the vigil. Usually Whispersight did this sort of stuff, but he was busy tending to Brightstorm’s wounds. This left the young apprentice to bid one final farewell to her beloved littermate.

 

“I know it would be tough bringing him back to the camp, but did they have to bury him at Sunningrocks? There’s a bridge, they could have at least brought him to our territory from there.” Crystalfoot sighed, licking her paw.

 

“It’s all because of my horrid father…” Specklefoot hissed.

 

“He deserved so much better than this.” A queen sighed.

 

“He was so much fun to share the apprentice’s den with, and now I’ll never get to be a warrior with him.” An apprentice cried.

 

“Those ThunderClan fox-hearts have spent too much time in the trees, all the shade has darkened their own hearts.” An elder hissed.

 

“I would not hesitate to tear Stormstar’s lives from him one by one right now.” A warrior growled. But nobody’s sadness came close to Scarletpaw’s.

 

The calico medicine cat apprentice let out a sigh as the wind ruffled her fur. The wind reminded her so much of Quicksilver. Playful but strong, uncontrollable and wandering. Before all this, she would have been comforted by the wind, wondering if it was Quicksilver’s spirit watching over her from StarClan. But StarClan couldn’t be real, if it would allow all of this to happen. She had never learned anything of consequence at the Moonstone– could those just be her own dreams? Was StarClan real at all? She desperately believed they weren’t, because if they were real and would let such a young and noble cat die, she didn’t want anything to do with them. Even if it meant Quicksilver’s spirit would have nowhere to go, she clung to the belief that StarClan was no more than a pretty story made to keep the Clans at peace.

 

“Alright, it should be good for now. Come and see me again if it gets worse.” Whispersight said, sealing up the gash on Brighstorm’s shoulder with cobwebs.

 

“Thank you.” She replied, stepping out of his den. Whispersight lied down with a sigh, when he noticed a starry tail swishing from side to side outside his den. He peeked out, and was shocked to see Quicksilver’s spirit watching the vigil.

 

“Quicksilver?” Whispersight asked.

 

“Hey, Whispersight!” Quicksilver replied.

 

“What are you doing here? Are you unable to pass on to StarClan?” Whispersight asked.

 

“Oh no, I can go to StarClan just fine. I’m actually waiting to show you something.” Quicksilver said.

 

“Show me what? And when?” Whispersight asked.

 

“You’ll see. Right now, in fact. Follow me!” Quicksilver said, bounding out of the camp. Whispersight chased after him through RiverClan territory, until they found Greenstar… or what was once Greenstar. Pouncing through the marshy ground with claws the size of a kit’s tail, was an olive green cat, as big as a fox. Its eyes were wild and pained.

 

“Greenstar? Greenstar, is that you?” Whispersight said.

 

“It’s him.” Quicksilver said.

 

“How?!” Whispersight shouted.

 

“A week ago, StarClan sent their power down to the Clans, to give them abilities they could use to fight off a grave darkness in the future. But it affected Greenstar in a horrible way– whenever he’s really angry, he’ll turn into this! And a Clanmate dying will get him very angry!” Quicksilver explained.

 

“Well, how do we stop this?” Whispersight asked.

 

“You have newly awakening powers from StarClan, too. You can walk in StarClan’s grounds whenever you wish. Bring Greenstar there. It will purify him.” Quicksilver said. Whispersight seemed startled, before nodding and lunging towards Greenstar. Greenstar roared, shoving him to the side effortlessly.

 

“Greenstar! This isn’t you! I’m your medicine cat, you need to let me fix you!” Whispersight hissed. Greenstar lunged at him, and Whispersight fell to the ground with his belly facing up to the sky. He wrapped his paws around Greenstar’s belly, envisioning himself in StarClan with Greenstar. Sure enough, he found himself in the shining midnight grounds of StarClan. Greenstar hissed, scrambling towards a willow tree. He trembled and convulsed, before collapsing to the ground and shrinking back into his normal form. He blinked his eyes open, and Quicksilver appeared in front of him. Whispersight watched from behind a growth of reeds.

 

“Quicksilver?” Greenstar said, getting to his feet.

 

“Nice to see you, Greenstar.” Quicksilver greeted him. Greenstar nodded, sighing.

 

“So it’s my time to join StarClan? Thank goodness I replaced Redthorn…” Greenstar said. Whispersight winced. This was indeed Greenstar’s last life. Had he killed Greenstar by taking him to StarClan?

 

“Not yet. Whispersight can explain just what happened, actually.” Quicksilver chuckled.

 

“I will, once we’re back in our own world.” Whispersight agreed, stepping out. As he said that, a dappled calico she-cat emerged from the willow trees.

 

“I’m not too late to talk to them, am I, Quicksilver?” The calico asked.

 

“Purerose!” Greenstar gasped.

 

“Mom!” Whispersight purred, running over to her. Purerose had given birth to both Whispersight and Specklefoot in separate litters.

 

“Little one…” Purerose murmured in his ear.

 

“Purerose, please tell me. Will Redthorn… will my father go to the Dark Forest for what he did today?“ Whispersight asked.

 

“He will go to the Dark Forest, for that and many other reasons. But now that he’s gone, I can tell you this without fear… Redthorn is Specklefoot’s father, but not yours.” Purerose announced.

 

“What?!” Whispersight gasped.

 

“Redthorn was cruel, when he and I were alone. I needed to get away from him. That’s how I met a dashing brown tom, who went by the name Silverheart, now known as Silverstar, leader of ShadowClan.” Purerose explained.

 

“…Silverstar is my father?” Whispersight said.

 

“Yes.” Purerose nodded. Whispersight felt as though the world was spinning around him, faster than he could handle. He had never trusted Redthorn, and had always wondered how they could even be related with their physical and mental differences. And now he was being told they never were in the first place?

 

“Are you okay?” Greenstar said, padding over to support Whispersight, who seemed ready to collapse to the ground. The medicine cat was deep in thought for a moment, before slowly raising his head, his expression calm.

 

“Yes. I am okay. I am loyal to RiverClan alone, no matter who my father is. Nothing can change that.” Whispersight quietly vowed. Purerose smiled.

 

“Goodbye, my darling, and goodbye, Greenstar.” She said.

 

“Bye!” Quicksilver chimed in.

 

Greenstar and Whispersight awoke in the world of the living, where Crystalfoot had come to find them.

 

“Are you okay?” She asked.

 

“We’re fine.” Greenstar said.

 

“That’s good to hear.” Crystalfoot purred, heading back to camp. Greenstar and Whispersight were left together, just the two of them. As they quietly walked through RiverClan territory, Whispersight explained what Quicksilver had told him, and the two made plans for what they’d do in case Greenstar transformed again. He could learn to use his powers to combat the rising darkness, but it wouldn’t be easy. Then again, the life of a warrior never was.


	7. The First Stirs of Darkness

In a shadowy cave, an old gray tom marched alongside four younger cats.

“Will we finally make our move, father?” Asked a black and white she-cat.

“Yes. I am glad to see you are eager.” The gray tom said.

“We would have been able to start sooner if you had allowed us to track down Gamora and Nebula, you know.” Said a mottled brown tom.

“I’ll bet your brutishness and constantly failing missions is what drove them away in the first place!” A black tom hissed.

“Gamora And Nebula are of no concern to us. The five of us against the two of them? They wouldn’t stand a chance.” The gray tom said.

“So, what do you need us to do?” Asked a silver tabby.

“If you wish to unravel a thorn bush, you can do it best from within the bush, where you can see every individual branch and twig. I need you to infiltrate the Clans.” The gray tom said. The four younger cats blinked in excitement.

“Midnight, you shall infiltrate RiverClan.” The gray tom said. The black and white she-cat nodded respectfully.

“Thank you, Thanos.” She said.

“Obsidian, you shall go to ThunderClan.” Thanos said to the brown tom.

“You will go to WindClan, Ebony.” Thanos told the silver tabby, who twitched his tail in obsequious agreement.

“And I am to go to ShadowClan?” The black tom asked.

“Yes, Corvus.” Thanos nodded. The four young cats padded out of the cave, ready to start on their journey.

“Be careful, my children.” Thanos called out to them. “For the Clans are filled with many fierce and dangerous warriors.”

———————————————

The “fierce and dangerous” Antpaw was currently stuck in a hole. He had thought it was the entrance to a tunnel, but he was wrong. Not only was the leaf-bare chill numbing him, couldn’t let Darkhill find out, because he, Wasppaw, and Shadepaw were in the middle of their assessments!

It had been three moons since Antpaw and Wasppaw had joined WindClan, and they had caught on incredibly fast. Eaglestar has said that they already were strong hunters and fighters, due to their age. It was the Clans’ code and traditions that they most needed to learn, and they had done so eagerly and earnestly. Now, he was supposed to become a warrior, but the chances of that happening if Darkhill discovered him like this were abysmal! He was just about to give up hope on becoming a warrior today, when he felt someone nudging him by his butt.

“Antpaw! Is that you?” Shadepaw called out.

“Shadepaw? Where are you?” Antpaw asked.

“I’m in the tunnel right beneath you! Don’t you know not to climb into a hole feet-first?” Shadepaw said.

“Now I do.” Antpaw remarked.

“Oh, whatever.” Shadepaw said, pushing him out of the hole and climbing out after him.

“Thanks.” Antpaw said, nudging the tortoiseshell apprentice affectionately. He was older than her, but they had still trained together as apprentices, along with Wasppaw. Shadepaw was like a sister to him.

“So, how did you do on your assessment?” Shadepaw asked, licking her paw.

“Pretty well. I caught plenty of prey, I’m sure I’ll pass!” Antpaw replied.

“Well, we have to be back at camp at sunhigh, so we ought to get moving.” Shadepaw said, and the two took off side by side. Antpaw thought he caught the scent of kittypet, but it was faint, perhaps it was his own old scent. He decided to ignore it, but he felt a bit unsure when he saw fluffy silver fur caught on a burr, that didn’t seem to come from one of WindClan’s cats. He shook off the thought, deciding he’d check it out that night during his vigil. Nobody would even notice he was gone, it was a natural talent of his.

When Antpaw and Shadepaw arrived with their catches, their mentors and Wasppaw greeted them eagerly.

“Well, it looks like we’ll have three new warriors tonight!” Hawkeye smiled, and Darkhill and Dawnclaw mewed in agreement. Shadepaw smiled smugly. Eaglestar heard their approval, and leaped to the Tallrock to call a Clan meeting. Everyone gathered, and Eaglestar beckoned the apprentices and their mentors forward.

“Today we are here to welcome three new cats into warriorhood.” Eaglestar said, before taking a deep breath and reciting the age-old words uttered by countless leaders before him. “I, Eaglestar, leader of WindClan, call upon my warrior ancestors to look down on these apprentices. They have trained hard to understand the ways of your noble code, and I commend them to you as a warrior in their turn.”

Antpaw had to stifle a chuckle. Those words were so formal, they seemed odd coming coming from a cat as down-to-earth and energetic as Eaglestar.

“Antpaw, Wasppaw, Shadepaw, do you swear to uphold the warrior code, and protect and defend your Clan, even at the cost of your life?” Eaglestar asked.

“I do.” Shadepaw said. Antpaw and Wasppaw hesitated. They had never really thought about the whole “cost of your own life” part that much… were they ready to make that choice? They had joined the Clans out of curiosity, and only now did they fully realize what they were getting into. But when they looked over at their Clanmates, and their close friends, they were reassured, knowing that the life they led now was one worth dying for.

“I do.” Antpaw and Wasppaw answered together.

“Then by the powers of StarClan, I give you your warrior name. Shadepaw, from this moment on, you will be known as Shadeheart. StarClan honors your intelligence and patience, and we welcome you as a full member of WindClan.” Eaglestar said.

“Nice name!” Wasppaw whispered to her friend. Eaglestar looked at her next.

“Wasppaw. From this moment on, you shall be known as Waspwing. StarClan honors your courage and curiosity, and we welcome you as a full member of WindClan.” He said. Antpaw beamed with pride for Shadeheart and Waspwing, nearly jumping up when Eaglestar then turned to face him.

“Antpaw, from now on you shall be known as Antwhisker. StarClan honors your wit and compassion, and we welcome you as a full member of WindClan.” Eaglestar said.

“Shadeheart! Waspwing! Antwhisker! Shadeheart! Waspwing! Antwhisker!” The Clan shouted to the sky. The recently-renamed Prickleshell shouted especially loud. The three warriors leaped down to the ground, where Prickleshell smiled warmly at them.

“Congratulations.“ She said.

“Thanks. I can’t believe I became a warrior in such a short time!” Antwhisker said.

“Well, I became a full medicine cat before all three of you.” Prickleshell pointed out.

“Good for you.” Waspwing said, bumping her on the side affectionately.

“It’s exciting times for the medicine cats, I’m not going to lie. Scarletpaw from RiverClan became Scarletfall on my most recent visit to the Moonstone, and Emberstone of ShadowClan took on an apprentice named Vinepaw two visits before. Last time I saw him, Vinepaw kept going on and on about how his father Silverstar’s apprentice finally finished his training and became Spiderheart.” Prickleshell said.

“That’s good to hear. It’s vital that all four Clans survive and thrive.” Shadeheart mewed. Pantherclaw padded up beside them.

“How would the three of you like to go on your first official patrol as warriors?” Pantherclaw asked.

“Of course!” Antwhisker immediately agreed.

“Good. I’ve picked up the scent of kittypet on the border near Highstones. You three need to check it out.” Pantherclaw said. The three new warriors twitched their tails in agreement, before bounding out of camp. When they arrived at the border in question, the kittypet scent was strikingly strong.

“There’s a kittypet here all right…” Waspwing growled. Shadeheart glanced around, before spotting a flash of silver fur.

“There they are!” Shadeheart said, and the three of them chased down the cat, before cornering the frightened creature. It was a fluffy silver she-cat with green eyes and a bobtail. A green collar with a bell adorned her neck.

“What do you want with me?!” The kittypet gasped.

“Calm down, calm down. We don’t want to hurt you, we just want to talk.” Waspwing said. The kittypet cocked her head in confusion.

“Okay. My name is Mantis, and I live with my housefolk by the quarry.” The kittypet answered.

“Housefolk? Quarry?” Shadeheart echoed.

“Twolegs And Highstones.” Waspwing explained. Mantis looked at her.

“Is your name Hope, by any chance? And the tom with you, is his name Scott?” She asked.

“Those were our names, before we joined WindClan. Now we’re Waspwing and Antwhisker.” Waspwing answered.

“I’ve heard of you! You disappeared into the woods ages ago!“ Mantis gasped.

“But there’s an entire moor in between our old home and Highstones.” Antwhisker pointed out.

“A kittypet from your old town visited the quarry with his housefolk a few days ago, and told me about you. You weren’t the original topic of his story, of course, but he is… easily distracted. He was a tiny cinnamon tabby.” Mantis said.

“Luis!” Antwhisker gasped.

“Yes, that was his name. He thinksyou two are dead, and he misses you very much.” Mantis said.

“Oh no…” Scott whimpered. He had known Luis for a long time, and he didn’t want him to be sad.

“He’s leaving tomorrow. Should I pass a message on to him?” Mantis asked.

“Yes. Tell him we’re living in the wild now. We miss him too, but we’re safe and happy in our new life.” Antwhisker said.

“I’ll do so.” Mantis said. She glanced around nervously. “I guess if this is your land, I should get off it.” She added.

“Yes, please.” Shadeheart said curtly. Mantis nodded, dashing out of WindClan’s snow-coated territory and across the empty Thunderpath.

“She’s nice.” Antwhisker said.

“Yeah. Well, now we have that figured out. Let’s head back to camp and get something to eat! We deserve it!” Shadeheart said. The trio excitedly made their way back to camp.

That night and the next day seemed to go by in a blur of excitement. All three of them were invited to the Gathering the next night, and could hardly contain their excitement as they arrived at Fourtrees. Eaglestar leaped up to the Great Rock beside Greenstar, Stormstar, and Silverstar, illuminated by the moonlight.

“Welcome to the Gathering!” Stormstar yowled enthusiastically to the crowd.

“Who would like to speak first?” Greenstar asked, chuckling at Stormstar’s enthusiasm.

“I will. My apprentice Spiderpaw completed his training with flying colors, and has taken on the name of Spiderheart. The cold weather has presented no challenge for ShadowClan.” Silverstar boasted.

“Smug worm-face…” Someone muttered as the cats shouted Spiderheart’s name in celebration. The young tortoiseshell swelled with pride.

“I’m glad to hear you’re doing well, Silverstar.” Eaglestar said coolly. “WindClan is also doing wonderfully. The wind always chills our territory, so adapting to leaf-bare is no struggle for us.” He said, fluffing up his fur. Eaglestar mostly got along with everyone fine, but he had an infamous rivalry with Silverstar.

“Oh really?” Silverstar said.

“Indeed. Our medicine cat apprentice has become a full medicine cat, named Prickleshell. And we have three new warriors: Shadeheart, Antwhisker, and Waspwing!”

“Prickleshell! Shadeheart! Antwhisker! Waspwing!” The crowd chanted.

“Congratulations. I suppose that since none of your new warriors and medicine cat have had the honor to share blood with their leader, or be trained by him personally, you need extra.” Silverstar said silkily.

“Anyways, I have news too!” Greenstar interrupted, and Eaglestar flashed him a grateful glance. That kind of petty arguing was pretty common whenever he met with Silverstar, and it was pretty grating for everyone to listen to.

“Whispersight’s apprentice has become Scarletfall. We have a new litter of kits, three she-kits and two toms. The river is yet to freeze over, so we’ve been stockpiling prey to store in frozen ground while we still can.” Greenstar said.

“ThunderClan has also been blessed with a new litter of kits, three healthy toms. Prey is still aplenty for us, and we are doing better than ever!” Stormstar added. With all the leaders done with their reports, the cats began to mingle, chatting with whoever was closest to them. Antwhisker talked with Happy from ShadowClan, while Waspwing and Shadeheart talked with Scarletfall from RiverClan.

“Then I tell Whispersight, ‘I don’t care that we’re running out of room, I’d even put the mouse bile in Greenstar’s den before putting it in my nest.’ Shockingly enough, Whispersight went along with it! It took Greenstar three whole days to notice!” Scarletfall finished her story.

“Hold on, I knew your dad, you look just like him! He jumped onto my roof because he was scared of a lawnmower!” Happy said to Antwhisker. Everyone was happy and talkative, when suddenly four cats bounded in: Whitewolf from WindClan, Crystalfoot from RiverClan, Vinepaw from ShadowClan, and Raventail from ThunderClan. They bounded up onto the Great Rock beside the leaders.

“What’s going on?!” Silverstar asked. The four cats caught their breath, before speaking in unison a short and horrifying sentence.

“The kits have all gone missing!”

 


	8. Within the Caves of Highstones

“They’re what?!”

“The kits!”

“All of them? From every Clan?”

“No!”

“StarClan help us…”

A sea of noises erupted in the Fourtrees. It took a loud yowl from Greenstar to silence everyone. The swarm of cats looked up at the Great Rock.

“Please explain what you mean.” He said calmly to Crystalfoot and the others.

“We encountered incredibly fast rogues. They broke into the camp before anyone could stop them, and stole all the kits.” Crystalfoot said.

“It happened to us, too.” Raventail said.

“And at ShadowClan.” Vinepaw added.

“Even WindClan couldn’t keep up with them. We’d have exhausted ourselves pursuing them alone.” Whitewolf said grimly.

“No, please no…” Silverstar whimpered, shuddering. “How are we supposed to get them back?” He mewed, wrapping his tail around Vinepaw.

“We can help with that.” Said a mysterious voice. A black and white she-cat, a black tom, a silver tabby tom, and a brown tom emerged from the trees and leaped up onto the Great Rock.

“Hey!” Greenstar growled.

“We really ought to see how many cats can fit on here one of these days.” Stormstar said.

“Who are you?” Eaglestar asked.

“We are Midnight, Ebony, Obsidian, and Corvus.” The black tom said, gesturing with his tail to each cat.

“Our ‘father’ kidnapped us as kits, we just barely escaped. We caught the scent of him and his minions while we were passing through, and figured out he was stealing kits from here. Then we followed the scents of all you cats. It looks like we are just in time. We can lead a small, specific group of you to his cave, if it means rescuing your kits.” Midnight explained.

“We appreciate any help we can get, thank you very much. Who do you need to come with you?” Eaglestar said. The four loners looked around, before nodding.

“Those four.” They said, pointing with their tails to Antwhisker, Spiderheart, Brightstorm, And Viperfrost.

“Go with them, do whatever they ask.” Stormstar said. The four cats nodded, following the loners out of Fourtrees. All four of them were very tense. They soon passed the WindClan bidder, taking them off Clan territory. They reached Highstones, where Viperfrost pricked his ears.

“Perhaps I should speak with StarClan, they may offer us guidance on how to do this quickest. Would you loners like to come with?” Viperfrost asked. Spiderheart silently noticed the medicine cat’s claws sliding in and out.

“You’ll do no such thing, there’s no telling what he’ll do to the kits.” Corvus said.

“We have no time. We have to move.” Ebony added on. Viperfrost reluctantly twitched his tail in agreement, following them once again.

“Were you planning to ambush them in the caves?!” Spiderheart whispered to Loki in shock.

“I don’t trust them.” Viperfrost answered curtly.

“Nobody here trusts you, but that doesn’t mean we’re going to maul you in a cave.” Antwhisker huffed.

“As if you could, kittypet.” Viperfrost rebuked.

“Don’t call me a kittypet!” Antwhisker roared, tackling Viperfrost to the ground. Viperfrost snarled, swatting Antwhisker in the face and kicking him away with his hind legs. The cream and lilac tom spat at the ground before crouching with his claws unsheathed, until he felt Obsidian’s teeth in his scruff. Obsidian and Spiderheart were pulling the two cats away from each other.

“Why would you do that?” Brightstorm asked.

“Because I’m tired of people thinking I’m weak and stupid.” Antwhisker muttered. The group of eight continued on their journey, before arriving at the entrance to the cave.

“Now, getting in will be easy. Getting out with the kits will be harder.” Midnight said.

“Doesn’t matter. It’s our job to keep them safe.” Brightstorm said.

“Very well then.” Ebony said. The eight of them entered the cave, blinking as their eyes adjusted to the darkness. 

“What now? Where would they be?” Viperfrost asked.

“We aren’t sure…” Corvus said.

“So we’ll have to search the whole place?” Spiderheart said.

“Probably.” Midnight replied.

“That‘s gonna take a long time.” Brightstorm sighed.

“So we may as well begin now.” Ebony said. They split into four groups of two, one loner and one Clan cat per group. They wandered the caves for a long, long time, until they each began to hear a faint mewing.

“The kits!” Everyone shouted, running towards the source of the noise. They all met up in one cave, where they were met with a horrible sight.

Four kits stood up, trembling in fear. The gray-furred Beetlekit from WindClan, the brown tabby Stretchkit from RiverClan, the tiny dark gray Webkit from ShadowClan, and pitch black Wolfkit from ThunderClan. The others were slumped up against the walls of the cave, having bled to death from tiny wounds.

“No!” Obsidian shouted, running up to the kits.

“What happened?” Antwhisker asked, running up beside Obsidian.

“A big gray cat showed up… he separated us by Clan, and then… then he…” Beetlekit trailed off, before fainting. Antwhisker picked her up by her scruff, giving her to Viperfrost.

“She’s okay. But she’s tired, and scared.” Viperfrost said after a brief examination.

“He made us fight, and kill each other until there was only one per Clan left! He said he’d kill us all if we didn’t…” Webkit sobbed.

“They’re all gone… our brothers and sisters, they’re gone because of us!” Stretchkit whimpered, nuzzling into Brightstorm’s neck.

“Did you catch his name?” Brightstorm asked.

“He said he was Thanos. That’s a weird and scary name.” Wolfkit said.

“Is that your so-called father?” Viperfrost asked, and the four loners nodded weakly, trembling.

“What do you mean by so-called? I raised them from kithood! They are strong, smart, and brave, because I instilled those virtues in them!” Said a plump gray tom as he emerged from a hole in the rocky wall.

“You made us kill our littermates!” Midnight hissed.

“And now the world doesn’t have to waste resources on inferior life forms. Resources are already limited, they should be reserved for the strongest. Is that not logical?” Thanos said.

“That’s disgusting.” Spiderheart said, baring his fangs.

“I wouldn’t expect you to understand.” Thanos said. “I am doing these kits a favor. They shall grow up strong and healthy under my watchful eye, and never be held back with concern for those weaker than them.” Thanos said.

“They belong in the Clans!” Antwhisker yowled. He wanted to attack that dreadful cat right now, but he couldn’t even feel his legs from the strange and overwhelming fear Thanos had instilled in all the others.

“Your arguments mean nothing to me. My children, I must thank you for bringing more cats to me. They all look especially weak, they ought to be purged first.” Thanos said.

“Weak?!” Brightstorm practically screamed.

“We are not your children! We will never serve you again!” Ebony hissed. A look of hurt and surprise crossed Thanos’ face.

“You will die if you oppose me.” Thanos growled.

“Then we will die protecting cats that have honor and dignity.” Obsidian said, lunging into the air and knocking Thanos to the ground. He hissed something in a spiteful, furious tone. Thanos’ eyes seemed to alight with realization, before he knocked Obsidian away.

“Let us take the kits, or all four Clans will follow our scent and track you down here.” Antwhisker said.

“He is right.” Corvus added. Spiderheart dashed up to Thanos and slapped him in the face. Spider silk seemed to have grown from the inside of his paws, and with a brutish shove from Brightstorm, Thanos’s head was stuck to the wall.

“He’ll break free soon, run!” Midnight said. Each Clan cat took their Clan’s respective living kit and made a mad dash until they were outside of the cave. The loners came after them, right after a furious roar shook all of Highstones.

“Run! Run as fast as you can!” Ebony said. Everyone took off sprinting, and Beetlekit yelped in alarm and relief when she woke up and saw she was outside of the cave. When they reached the Thunderpath, however, they all skidded to a stop. Monsters raced past on it constantly.

“How are we supposed to do this? Thanos’ minions will catch up with us soon!” Spiderheart said. Everyone was silent, until suddenly Ebony spoke.

“That monster is going much slower than the others! Jump aboard it!” Ebony said, pointing at one that was coming up at a pace much faster than a cat, but indeed slow for a monster.

“But how will we get back to the Clans?” Viperfrost asked.

“What matters right now is keeping the kits safe!” Brightstorm said. Viperfrost reluctantly nodded, before hoisting Wolfkit onto his back. The others did the same with their kits, and as the monster drove by, they all leaped towards it and tumbled onto the flat space in the back. In less than a minute, they watched sorrowfully as they were whisked far away from the forest. The kits were rescued, but now they had no way of getting them back to the sure safety of the Clans– and no way of warning the Clans just what kind of horror was lurking so close to their homes.

***

Beetlekit is Cassie Lang, Stretchkit is Kamala Khan, Webkit is Miles Morales, and Wolfkit is… Fenris. I ran out of ideas. I’d love to hear your thoughts on this story, so don’t be afraid to comment!


	9. Guardians of Whatever A Galaxy Is

Everyone on the Thunderpath was pretty quick to notice the twelve wild cats in the back of a pickup. Brightstorm was talking calmly with Stretchkit, Spiderheart was using the weird silk from his paws to patch up a cut on Webkit’s flank, Antwhisker was comforting Beetlekit, and Viperfrost was checking over Wolfkit, who was the most injured of the bunch. Ebony, Midnight, Obsidian, and Corvus were sitting forlornly at the edge.

 

“What’s up with this silk?” Spiderheart wondered out loud.

 

“In WindClan, Eaglestar and Whitewolf said they got a prophecy that a lot of cats would get weird powers from StarClan to fight some sort of darkness. Maybe this is one of those powers.” Antwhisker said. “And maybe the darkness…” He trailed off, glancing in the direction of Highstones.

 

“I did overhear Emberstone and Silverstar talking about powers of some sort…” Spiderheart said.

 

“That explains why I was able to absorb energy from Redthorn a few moons ago!” Brightstorm gasped.

 

“Stormstar and I received the same prophecy. It seems WindClan is the only one that went public about it.” Viperfrost said.

 

“Why wouldn’t they tell us?” Spiderheart asked.

 

“They may want to see just how widespread the powers are first.” Brightstorm said.

 

“What does it matter? Now you know.” Corvus sighed.

 

“Is something wrong?” Spiderheart asked.

 

“We’re very far from where we intended to go.” Corvus said.

 

“Yeah… we’re all far from home.” Spiderheart replied.

 

“Once this thing comes to a stop and we’re sure we’re not being followed by Thanos anymore, we can head back. What will you four do?” Viperfrost said.

 

“We’d like to join you, if possible. Your Clans, they lead lives of true compassion, honor, and bravery. We want to live like that.” Midnight said.

 

“I’d be honored to have you in my clan. I’m sure the leaders will agree, once we get home.” Brightstorm said. There was another period of silence, until the monster came to a stop in front of a dirty-looking Twoleg den with bright lights, and strange structures that had some sort of black vines growing from them. A Twoleg got out and stuck one of the vines into the side of the monster, while the twelve cats leaped out from the back.

 

“Are we finally going home?” Stretchkit asked.

 

“Yes. Are you ready?” Brightstorm asked.

 

“Yes!” All four kits cheered.

 

“I can’t wait to get home!” Webkit said.

 

“I want to see my mommy and daddy again.” Beetlekit said. Wolfkit, who had always been very quiet, murmured in agreement.

 

“Well, let’s not waste time!” Antwhisker said. The twelve cats took off in the direction of the Clans’ territories, while a familiar face watched them from a van. The silver bobtail kittypet named Mantis was on her way to the beach with her owner. When her housefolk let her out to walk around, making sure she never left their sight, she wandered around aimlessly. She was beginning to wonder what life in the Clans was like. But she couldn’t leave, her housefolk would be heartbroken. She was sitting on a clump of dirt, when she felt the ground beneath her begin to shift.

 

“What in the world?” Mantis wondered. Suddenly, the face of a golden and brown tom emerged from within the dirt. Mantis flinched back, startled. Then she peered closely at the face.

 

“Who are you?” She asked.

 

“My name is Quill. What’s a kittypet like you doing so far out here?” The tom replied.

 

“My housefolk are taking me to the beach. Have you ever been there?” Mantis asked.

 

“I am Groot!” A young tan tom announced, sticking his head out beside Quill.

 

“Groot says he went there with Rocket once.” Quill said.

 

“How did you figure that?” Mantis asked.

 

“Those three words are all Groot can say. We’ve learned how to understand what he means, word for word.” Quill said.

 

“That’s incredible…” Mantis said. “Wait. Who’s ‘we’?” She asked.

 

“The Guardians of the Galaxy, that’s who ‘we’ is.” Said a brown and white tabby tom crawling out of the tunnel, accompanied by a brown and red tabby. An orange and olive green tortoiseshell she-cat followed.

 

“…What’s a galaxy?” Mantis asked.

 

“We have no idea, we met a kittypet named that once and we really liked the way it sounded. Anyways, that’s Rocket, Drax, and Gamora.” Quill introduced Mantis to the other Guardians in turn.

 

“Well, it’s very nice to meet you. I am Mantis. How did you dig a hole like that, anyways?” Mantis asked.

 

“Well…” Quill said, before placing his paw on a patch of solid ground. In an instant, the ground crumbled into dust.

 

“Oh my!” Mantis shouted.

 

“Yeah. It first started happening about three moons ago. Pretty neat, right?” Quill said.

 

“I am Groot!” Groot added, waving his tail. Little glowing spores began to float out from it.

 

“Incredible…” Mantis said, reaching forward to touch one with her nose.

 

“Don’t eat it! They’re poisonous!” Quill shouted, placing his paw on Mantis’ neck. Mantis felt a sudden jolt of concern– but concern for what?

 

“Thank you…” Mantis said. She saw Gamora staring at her quietly. “Well, goodbye.” Mantis said, padding off. She brushed against Gamora, and she felt sudden, inexplicable wariness. She whipped around to face Gamora.

 

“What?” Gamora asked.

 

“N-nothing…” Mantis said. She began to make her way back to the van, when a stick emitting smoke fell from her half-asleep owner’s mouth– right as some of the fluid from the black vine fell to the ground. Flames leaped up, consuming the van and ready to consume Mantis’ owner.

 

“No!” Mantis screamed, running over to the sight of the fire. But the flames began to snake closer to her, threatening to swallow her up.

 

“No, I can’t be afraid. He needs my help!” Mantis said, navigating her way through the fire. She grabbed her owner by the fabric of his shirt, and tried to pull him out of the fire. But the smoke was choking her up and making her eyes water, and the heat made her feel as if she might melt! She was about to collapse and give up when she saw Drax right next to her, also pulling. Flooded with relief, she pulled her owner to safety alongside Drax, taking a big gulp of fresh air when they were safe. She immediately brushed her nose against his charred face, whimpering as a wave of pain, fear, and loneliness flooded her. Another person was shouting into a small and thin metal box, sounding very alarmed. Mantis ducked out of the way, hiding under a corner of the building. She watched silently beside the Guardians, until many Twoleg vehicles began to pour in, alight with red and blue and making dreadful howling noises.

 

“I’ve seen those before. They’re going to take him to be healed.” Rocket said.

 

“So he’ll be okay?” Mantis asked.

 

“Yeah. You might want to catch up with him.” Rocket said. Mantis ran towards her owner, but he was whisked away into a white vehicle, the doors closing behind him. The vehicle immediately took off down the road, much faster than Mantis could ever hope to run.

 

“Nooooooo!” Mantis wailed. She stared at the Thunderpath with eyes welling up with tears.

 

“Mantis…” Drax said, wrapping his tail around her comfortingly.

 

“He’s gone… my entire life is gone!” Mantis cried. Glaring at the Guardians, she sat down facing away from them.

 

“Mantis, are you okay?” Drax asked.

 

“No. I’m heartbroken, Drax, I just watched the guy who raised me disappear!” Mantis said.

 

“How are you still alive if your heart is not working, then?” Drax asked. Quill slapped him lightly on the leg, a look of disbelief on his face.

 

“How will I survive now?” Mantis asked. Quill paused, then spoke.

 

“Come with us. We’ll take care of you until you find your owner again.” Quill said.

 

“What?” Gamora said, surprised. Mantis looked at the ruins of the van, then back at th the Guardians. Taking a deep breath, she walked up to Quill and sat beside him.

 

“Okay. I’ll come with you.” Mantis said. Quill smiled, and the six Guardians of the Galaxy took off together.


	10. The Rogue

Six moons passed, and the Clans were yet to catch even a whiff of Thanos after the kits were rescued. Maybe he was gone for good, but they didn’t want to get their hopes up.

The full moon of a warm green-leaf night heralded a pleasant Gathering. WindClan gladly announced a new apprentice: Beetlepaw, apprentice of Antwhisker. RiverClan boasted Stretchpaw, apprentice to Brightstorm. ThunderClan had a new apprentice medicine cat in the form of Wolfpaw. ShadowClan’s prized Spiderheart was now mentor of Webpaw. Lastly, the four loners had each joined the Clans: Ebony went to WindClan, Midnight to RiverClan, Corvus to ShadowClan, and Obsidian to ThunderClan. They had kept their names, however. Shadespark stretched her legs as she sat near the edge of Fourtrees, ready to curl up in her nest when this was all over. She had been chatting with Pantherclaw from WindClan, asking what it was like mentoring Ebony. She knew Poppyfire had gotten along well with her apprentice Corvus, and Goosepounce had gotten along well with his apprentice Obsidian. Midnight and her former mentor, Crystalfoot, had some distance between them, however.

“Pantherclaw, it’s good to see you.” Shadespark said, dipping her head respectfully.

“It’s good to see you, too. Ebony asked me to ask about what ShadowClan thinks of Corvus.” Pantherclaw said.

“Corvus is a fine young warrior, and we’re all very fond of him. What was it like, mentoring Ebony?” Shadespark asked.

“He’s very self-opinionated and headstrong, but he’s clever and loyal, too. I’m proud of him.” Pantherclaw said.

“Hmm. Reminds me of when I was an apprentice. Those were good times…” Shadespark sighed.

“Yes.” Pantherclaw said. Then, they heard a strange noise in the bushes.

“What’s that?” Shadespark wondered out loud, twitching her ears. Pantherclaw sniffed the air.

“It smells like a strange cat… I will go investigate.” Pantherclaw said, before realizing the scent trailed off into ShadowClan territory.

“You can come with me.” Shadespark said, and they leaped into the bushes together to find their mystery cat.

“Well, finding them may be harder than I expected. Everything smells the same here!” Pantherclaw said as they made their way through the .

“I thought the same thing about your moor when my mentor brought me to the Moonstone.” Shadespark retorted.

“Hmm. I suppose we both have a point…” Pantherclaw replied. The two followed the scent further into the woods, before running into Sharpheart.

“What’s going on here?” Sharpheart said. He had twisted his paw a while ago, and while he was well enough to walk around ShadowClan territory, he wasn’t ready for the walk to the Gathering.

“Pantherclaw and I found a strange scent at Fourtrees, and we’re following it together.” Shadespark explained.

Sharpheart took in a deep breath. “You’re right. It’s well disguised, but it’s there, and I don’t recognize it from anywhere. Hostile, she-cat, loner or rogue.” Sharpheart said.

“Our mystery cat has gone to great lengths to avoid detection, but she underestimated the Clans’ tracking abilities. She isn’t very familiar with this land.”Shadespark added on.

“A traveler. Hopefully she’s just passing through.” Pantherclaw meowed.

“Let’s go.” Sharpheart said, and the three cats followed the scent through a wide expanse of puddle-filled ground. Pantherclaw winced at the sticky mud that cling to his legs and underbelly, but Sharpheart and Shadespark were unfazed. Pantherclaw came to the conclusion that he would never understand ShadowClan cats.

“The scent is getting stronger.” Sharpheart said. They leaped out of the last puddle, and noticed a blur of dark fur slipping past a pine tree. Sharpheart’s tail whipped into the air before quickly flattening to the ground, signaling to the other two to freeze and crouch down.

“I see them.” Shadespark and Pantherclaw said in unison.

“She hasn’t noticed us yet, we still smell like the puddles. We follow her from a distance, then sneak in closer once we get into the moorland past the Thunderpath to hide our pelts andscents.” Sharpheart said. Pantherclaw and Shadespark nodded, and the three began to creep forward, giving the loner a wide berth. When the cat looked in their direction, they quickly ducked behind a tree. Her nimble paws quickly dashed over to the tree, and the three cats curled up in a pile, pretending they were just a group of loners napping together. When the rogue she-cat unsheathed her claws, however, Shadespark leaped into the air and pinned the rogue to the ground with her forepaws.

“You’re trespassing on Clan territory. What are you doing here?” Shadespark demanded.

“Whatever I want.” The rogue snarled. “And I can’t leave any witnesses!” She added, kicking Shadespark off of her. Sharpheart grabbed the rogue by her tail, yanking her into the air. Pantherclaw swiftly climbed up a tree and pounced at the rogue, not even noticing his claws had become the size of a fox’s claws. The rogue froze, before leaping into action once again.

“How did you do that?! You freak!” She said, barreling into Pantherclaw.

“I am no freak! I received these powers from my warrior ancestors in order to protect my Clan and all the Clans, and that’s what I’m going to do!” Pantherclawsaid, slashing the rogue across the face. She tackled him to the ground, digging her claws into his face. But Pantherclaw’s mighty claws dig into her sides, and she kicked away from him to escape. Shadespark bit her by the ear, tearing it clean off. The rogue screamed in rage, rearing up onto her hind legs with a challenging roar. Shadespark lunged towards her with claws extended, only to fall onto her front paws when the rogue side-stepped out of the way. Her claws scratched painfully across the ground, but Sharpheart had her covered, diving towards the rogue with teeth bared. He sunk his teeth into her remaining ear, blood roaring in his mouth. She had made it clear she wanted to kill them– and if they didn’t fight with all they had, she might succeed. Sharpheart dug his back claws into the rogue’s chest, but the rogue flipped over, slamming down hard on Sharpheart’s chest with her hind paws. She pounced on him when she was on all fours again, wrestling him down a hill before Shadespark and Pantherclaw could intervene.

“You forced it to be this painful. But it is mercy compared to what he’ll do if he catches my scent on you!” The rogue growled, digging her hind claws into Sharpheart’s hind paws so he was unable to move.

“Who?!” Sharpheart said, exasperated. But the rogue didn’t answer, claws flashing in the moonlight. Sharpheart flinched as he saw the rogue’s claws headed straight for his eyes. But when he felt no pain, he blinked his eyes open in confusion.

“What the…” Sharpheart said, realizing that the rogue’s claws were ineffective, as though she was striking stone. But when she struck his chest, pain coursed through him once again. Whatever was protecting him did nothing to protect his chest. But when the rogue raised her claws again with a triumphant sneer, ready to deal the killing blow, two pairs of claws sliced into her back. She screamed in pain, seeing Pantherclaw’s fox-sized claws tearing through her skin; as well as Shadespark’s claws, which were surrounded by the very sparks in her namesake.

“Who are you cats?” The rogue hissed.

“We are warriors! And we will defend our land, our Clans, and our code with our last breath. So get away from here!” Shadespark hissed. The sparks around her claws were fading, but the rage in her eyes was like a lightning storm.

“Running will make it worse for all four of us.” The rogue said, claws scraping the marshy ground.

“Nebula!” Corvus’ voice suddenly called out to the rogue. Corvus leaped down, eyes wide with concern.

“Corvus!” Nebula said. “Ugh, they’re already onto me!” She spat.

“Emberstone sent me this way, saying he had a vision of some kind. Looks like I came just in time.” Corvus said.

“Corvus, don’t tell me you’ve joined the Clans!” Nebula said.

“Nebula, you chose to run away and live life as a rogue. I choose to live with the Clans. Now leave, or I will make you leave.” Corvus said, stalking towards Nebula with teeth bared and angry emerald eyes. Nebula growled, eyes glimmering with frustration as she looked around for a way out. Spitting on the ground, she sheathed her claws and forced her lips over her razor-sharp teeth. The four warriors escorted her to the border with cold eyes. Then, Shadespark pushed Nebula across the border with outstretched claws, slicing Nebula’s other ear off.

“Hey!” Nebula screeched.

“You tried to kill us. Letting you live at all is more mercy than you deserve.” Shadespark said. Nebula skulked off, and the four warriors didn’t take their eyes off of her until they knew she was far away.

“Corvus, how do you know her?” Sharpheart asked.

“Nebula and I were both kidnapped as kits by Thanos. He sought to eliminate all things he considered weak or inferior, and eventually that warded off us and all his other ‘children’. I was wondering where she went…” Corvus said.

“Well, she’s no sister of yours now.” Sharpheart said.

“No, she is not.” Corvus agreed, staring forlornly at the trail Nebula’s large, heavy paws had left. As Shadespark walked to the WindClan border with Pantherclaw, Corvus accompanied Sharpheart back to the camp. Sharpheart was still tense, constantly ruffling his fur to make sure it was back to normal. He and Shadesparkhad a lot to explain to Silverstar, and a lot of explanations to demand from Silverstar.


End file.
